


Desert Heart

by QueenOfPixies



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Minor Angst, New Zealand is a guy, World War I, world meeting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-11
Updated: 2014-01-11
Packaged: 2018-01-08 07:22:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1129904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenOfPixies/pseuds/QueenOfPixies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It may have been that they were brought close under bad circumstances, but really... wasn't it good the way things had turned out? Australia/New Zealand</p>
            </blockquote>





	Desert Heart

**Author's Note:**

> The original idea for this fic was given to me by the plot bunnies when we were learning about the Gallipoli campaign in SoSE (studies of society and environment – kinda like history, geography, business, economy and a whole heap of other shit mixed together).
> 
> I’ve only experienced a desert storm once in my life, but they are probably one of the most beautiful things you’ll ever see (except for a green sunset in Firenze or a White Christmas when all you ever usually experience at that time of year is overwhelming heat and humidity). There’s red muddy/sandy water running down the hills, the sky is grey and almost blends in with the dark, dead trees and the lightning shadows everything and cracks like a cat-o-nine tails nine-fold – right at the base of your skull.
> 
> I should probably be doing my house work lol. As Lithuania says: “Food is the easy way to blissful procrastination." So I hope all you other blissful procrastinators get some work done too…  
> Eventually.
> 
> Oh and Oz's grammar may seem appalling, but I wrote it that way because that's how we sound when we talk. Sorry.
> 
> Human Names used: Oz – Keith; Zea – Benjamin; Turkey – Sadiq; Egypt – Gupta; England – Arthur; America – Alfred; Italy – Feliciano; Japan – Kiku; Germany – Ludwig; Russia – Ivan; Canada – Matthew; Austria – Rodderich; Hungary – Elizaveta; France – Francis; Serbia – Novak; Belgium – Belle

Keith was a pretty tall guy; he was built like a gorilla, and just as hairy. Seriously, if a gorilla challenged him for a fight for territory, Keith would be victorious (it wasn't Zea’s fault he caught himself staring at the guy – he was just… too damn sexy).

His attitude was like the sun – always shining, and his smile was so bright it would give the sun a run for its money. The things that got him pissed (like, seriously pissed, not just a little iffy) were insulting his mum or the rough-and-tumble way he lived, getting his capital wrong, his home-brewed beer, or insulting his boss (which Benji did so often it wasn't funny, but Keith would accept it, because sometimes he hated his boss too).

Things like that gave Keith thunder in his throat and lightning in his eyes; the anger that was stored away in his sandy, rocky heart until a desert storm would clear out through his veins and boil like there was no tomorrow. Thankfully, Benji was never on Keith’s bad side – they were too good mates for that to happen. And, as he sat bored, at yet another pointless world meeting (or should he say yelling match), he found himself thinking about the circumstances that had brought them together… and apart.

Both Keith and Benji – otherwise known as the human personifications of Australia and New Zealand – had been raised by Arthur – the human United Kingdom. As he so often told them, it was not polite to tease or tumble, or bite and kick, or play pranks and jokes, but being the rough down under boys they were, Keith and Benji couldn't help themselves; it was in their red-as-outback-sand blood. They were constantly fighting (although it was only play fighting, to build up their strength) and Arthur was constantly telling them off. 

So it was only natural that they ignore him.  
But ignoring him only got them in worse trouble.

They were separated when Keith got Benji into using his native wildlife to screw with Arthur. He’d had enough of being told what to do, and so was sent back to his own country after Arthur had woken up to a King Brown snake in his bed. They’re deadly poisonous to humans, but to a nation, imagine a bee sting – it’d hurt for a while, then it’d go away. 

That didn't mean that some countries couldn't be allergic to poison.

And thus, Zea was left alone. All he had to entertain himself while he was gone was his little pet kiwi, Auck and a couple of stray sheep. The days he spent without Keith gave him time to think – he wasn't constantly kicking or yelling himself hoarse – and so he became quieter and quieter, until the only times he spoke was when answering another person. So it came as quite a shock to Arthur when not even ten years after Keith, Benji asked for independence. Afraid as he was with Keith that it would turn into an all-out war as with Alfred, Arthur complied.

But the rejoicing for Zea was nothing to fill the emptiness of his head, his voice, his soul… and so for Zea, one good thing came from World War One. 

He was able to see Keith again.

The training in Egypt had been harsh, to say the least. They were trained just like any other soldier amidst the hot, sweaty, friendly and loyal ANZACs. They disrespected the British together, even, as for both Aussies and Kiwis, respect had to be earned. It was somewhat of a relief, to have someone treat them as an ordinary man… but that relief was always short-lived, as at the end of the day, they would feel the toll the war was extracting from them. They would feel the deaths of their men, their troops, their people’s morale… and Benji couldn't help but think about whose fault it was, that they were in this war; that their people were sacrificing themselves for what seemed like a worthless cause.

Arthur.

Arthur had brought him and Keith together, yeah, but he was also the one who separated them, who dragged them into this through their ‘loyalty’… as the Australian Prime Minister of the time said:  
“Australia will defend the Mother Country to the last man and the last shilling.”

Of course, what with their countries 'owing so much to Great Britain', New Zealand was forced to join too.

So he found himself in front of Keith’s tent, where he could hear Gupta, Arthur, Keith and all their bosses, including his own, conversing. Entering, he bowed his head for a quick second before he waved Keith outside.

As soon as they went back out, they found themselves doing the great Australian wave before sitting down in front of a lonely camp fire.

“So, Zea… what’d ya wan’?” Keith had asked, smiling at him before setting a billy atop the orange and yellow flames. The smile reached his deep green eyes, so out of place in the red and dead outback, but even more out of place in the read and dead of this war.

It took all Zea had not to kiss Oz right then and there. It took all he had not to slap that cheeky bastard’s smile right off his dirty face.

With a light dusting of pink in his cheeks, Zea leaned closer so that no one but Oz could hear him. It was a useless caution; everyone was either out getting pissed, getting fucked, or getting diagnosed with some sort of… something.

“Who do you think… is to blame for us getting into this mess?” he whispered, unsure if Keith would get it or not, his own green eyes staring deep into his best friend’s.

Keith chuckled, the sound reverberating throughout his wide, burly chest.

“Mate… hasn't anyone explained it to ya yet? One a Novak’s blokes shot one of Roderich and Elizaveta’s freeloading nobles, so declarations of war and shit… Ludwig stupidly backing them in any fucking situation, then Ivan mobilising like lightning on their asses… then the fuckwit Luddy invaded Francis through Belle… I think that’s when Arthur came into play, mate, and you know… the call of duty and whatnot… didn't wanna let mum down…” Keith replied softly, scratching the nape of his neck with one of his large, hairy hands.

He looked up to see Zea smiling a regretful smile at him, shaking his curly blonde head slowly, his thicker-than-average-but-not-as-thick-as-Arthur's eyebrows knotting into an upwards ‘v’. Keith’s own thickish eyebrows shot up, confused.

“What? I'm not wrong Zea, that’s how it happened…”

“I know that, Oz… I know perfectly well how the fucking war started…. But why do you think we’re here? Why do you think New Zealand and Australia got pulled into this mess??” Zea said, anger seeping into his usually soft and sweet voice. “It’s Arthur's bloody alliance that’s caused all our men to die…”

These words seemed to spark something deep within Keith, and he immediately frowned again.

“Mate, you know it’s not Arthur’s; don’t blame him for something that wasn't his fault! He didn't want to do this shit – it’s his boss and his people, just the same reason we’re stuck in this mess. Why do you think we’re fighting our friends? Why do you think during all of history we've fought our friends?”

When Zea held his breath and gazed silently into Oz’s eyes to ponder the words that still hung in the air, Oz continued with his rant.

“Because we’re not the ones who started it. We’re just the unlucky sons of bitches that got personified into fucking nations. We’re just the ones who feel our people die. We’re just the ones that have to deal with all the hate, the poverty, the bitterness and the selfishness of this world. We’re just the only ones...... who... can’t decide their own fate... So… don’t blame Arthur, Zea. Blame the hatred in the hearts of men.”  
With that last, hurtful comment, Zea watched Keith walk off, stumbling over a rock and cursing under his breath.

Those were the last words that Benji heard from Keith before they left for Turkey and Gallipoli…

Except for the haunting song he caught Oz singing the night they loaded their naval vessels for the trip. He recognised the tune easily: it was practically Oz’s anthem. Obviously, while he was singing it, he was thinking of bushwalking and forty-degree heat, but… the lyrics were sad and mocking and mourning a life that most of these men - their men - would lose.

“Who’ll kill the Kaiser,  
Who’ll kill the Kaiser?  
Who’ll come a-killing the Kaiser with me?  
So we’ll drink all his beer and eat up all his sausages;  
Who’ll come a-killing the Kaiser with me?”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(^J^)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

So, over a century had passed, and relations between the nations were getting better. 

Well, at least that’s what it looked like on the outside…

But if you walked into this room full of bickering, arguing and flirting men and women… you’d think it was completely normal.

Until you found out they were the human personifications of countries.

Over there was France, trying to grope South Korea while he tried to grope China, yelling at Russia over the clamorous noise about how ‘I’m not tsundere, I’m just the oldest and the most confused, aru!!' … and at Zea’s part of the room were America, Australia, England and some other guy, all caught in an argument about the pronunciation and spelling of words. Again. Seriously, they did this every single fucking time!  
Everyone knew who was on whose side.

“You bloody yank, how many times do I have to tell you? It’s a fucking ‘s’, not a bloody ‘z’!!! You've butchered up the English language, no wonder mum hates you! Geez mate, if I was the one who’d raised you, I’d have killed you by now ‘cause of what you've done and said about English culture!!”

Zea didn't have to look up to know who’d said that; he could already imagine the squint lines on his forehead creasing from his brows and his green eyes lighting up in anger while his two biggest cities bobbed up and down on his head.

“Well excuse me, princess! I'm a free nation who can do whatever the fuck he wants, so go become a republic or something. Or put another shrimp on the barbie! Leave me alone, I chose to do what I want because I'm the hero, so there, stupid cane toad!!”

And there was the annoying, insufferable accent across the Atlantic from his mum, yelling far louder that actually necessary as ‘Texas’ slid down his nose. Zea looked up to see England and that almost-invisible guy holding them back, so that they wouldn't end up in a brawl that would probably end with Keith’s fingers up Alfred’s nose.

“First things first, fuckwit, cane toads are Queenslanders, and I live in the ACT. Secondly, I'm practically free as it is, and I have free health care. You’ll also notice my lack of gun crime… and they’re prawns, dammit! And why the fuck would you put something that expensive on the fucking barbeque??” Keith yelled, his thick Australian accent cutting off the end consonants and dragging out the vowels.

“I dunno, you tell me! What was that stupid nineties ad campaign for then??” Alfred cried, his voice gaining the attention of the surrounding that weren't already looking.

“Because you Yankees don’t know what prawns are; you’re too thick to see past anything of your own!! Get Texas checked out, before they stop working and you get your economy in worse shape!”

“That’s it!” Zea cried, and the gathering in the room turned to look at him curiously. “The reason you guys are so fucking worked up is only because you're spending too much arguing and not enough time feeding your sharks or screwing your girlfriends' brains out!" He stopped ranting for a second to look pointedly at Alfred and Arthur. "I mean seriously Alfred, have you heard the shit Arthur has been complaining about?? We have to hear it every single day! Don't you think you could be more original in bed?? Arthur's not a fucking vanilla chick you know!!”

Australia chuckled, his dark brown eyebrows pulling together in a downwards ‘v’ as his white teeth flashed from behind his smile. Sure, he had originally blown his head off when he found out his mum was screwing his best friend and vice-versa… but now, it was all he joked about. That and his politics and their opposition.

“Yeah, Alfie, stop screwing my mum and acting like nothing’s happened! It’s completely obvious, even Italy could read the atmosphere!”

With Keith’s last words, America and England blushed and stared at the floor while he went over and slung one of his heavily muscled and hairy arms over Zea’s shoulders. Everyone else in the room rolled their eyes simulaneously and got back to their own conversations.

“Mate, I dunno what I’d do without a bud like you,” Keith said loudly, making Benji blush profusely. "You wouldn't think it, but you've definitely got the temper of all those volcanoes you're hidin'!"

Zea replied quietly, more like his usual self. “I don’t know what I’d be without someone like you to stop me from going crazy, bro.”

Keith laughed boisterously. "Ya got that right, sheep-shagger!" 

Feeling his anger bubble back up, Benji let it out and pushed Keith into the nearest chair.  
Then he mumbled again, this time so quiet he was sure no one would hear. "I love you too, roo-rooter..."

Australia froze, wondering if he had heard correctly, or if he heard what he wanted to hear. His cheeks heated up like sunburn.  
“Um… sorry Zea? What was that?”

It was Zea’s turn to freeze as he realised Australia had heard what he said. Shit, he'd forgotten that this bogan had hearing like a bat; he’d spent years in the bush sleeping with one ear open and listening for snakes and drop bears.

“Um… I said… that…I … I love you, Oz…” Zea said, even quieter than Canada. He knew Oz would be able to hear him this time, and he knew there was no escaping from the ensuing bone-crushing hug.

Australia smiled. “I thought so. I heard what I thought I heard and I heard what I wanted ta hear,” he said softly, turning Zea around so his chest was buried in Oz’s tan shirt, hiding his growing blush.

“You… you mean… you love me too? In that way? Not as a friend, but as… a… lover? Like Germany and Italy, or Finland and Sweden?” Zea asked quietly, his green eyes widening and blonde curl bouncing happily.

“What’d ya think, Zea? How could I not, after our years as mates? Yeah, kinda like them, but… I haven’t got a stick up my ass like Luddy, and I won’t call you my wife… unless you want me too?” he chuckled.

Zea blushed and shook his head. “Sorry, I don’t have any weird kinks like that…”

“Except for sheep?” Keith said, making Benji’s face rival a disbelieving Romano’s. “I’ll wear that Halloween costume again to my capital’s centenary, and embarrass the hell out of –“

Benji decided to make Keith shut the fuck up, and brought Keith’s head down to his own to make their lips touch in a short but longing kiss.  
Keith looked at Benji for a brief second before crushing their lips together again, this time with more tongue and roguish teeth, the wetness and spark like a desert storm at the desert heart of Australia.

Just as they pulled away and caught their breath, Zea murmured something quietly under his breath as lightning struck outside.

“…I think I love your kisses, Oz…” he breathed, his light voice heavy with emotion.

Australia smiled. “And why’s that, Zea?” he said, his deep voice light and lilting with the rolling thunder.

Zea smiled back and placed his hand over the middle of Australia's chest. “Because… they remind me of why I love your desert heart…”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(^J^)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Fail ending is fail. Anyone see the subtle Zelda reference? I’ll give you a cookie if you can!  
Iggy’s so Tsundere~~~ oh, and not sorry for my Australian spelling, beatches. 

Feel free to message me or leave a comment!

~~QueenOfPixies~~


End file.
